bash the smokers

time to bash the smokers again, new ad on tv showing tumors growing on cigs wile being smoked by the way i am a smoker the goverment tell us that it is costing the nhs too mutch, but they never mention the 20 billion they get in tax off us smokers. why dont they start to pick on the drinkers as they cost the nhs 20 billion a year roting livers diseaced kidneys drunken punch ups drunk drivers you get my drift i also like an occasionall drink. my grump is that the goverment wont take on the drinks industry as this would realy make them unpopular but thats ok they will just put more tax on the beer to make us pay, not as mutch as ciggs though two thirds of the price is tax on every pack average is four pound forty wy dont they do this with beer they darenot but they would like to that would sort the economy out would it not

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I have been a slave to the weed for the past 55 years and it annoys me that a group of 'holier than thou' people should have enacted the no smoking law in its current form.
I am by no means convinced that smoking is the sole culprit in lung disease and would suggest that the impurities discharged into the atmosphere though internal combustion engines and the like are also likely to have an important effect.
This legislation has run roughshod over smokers - I used to enjoy visiting the pub for a pint and a social chat with friends in a calm relaxing atmosphere with a smoke but come the first winter of the ban when I had to go outside into the cold every time I wished to have a smoke became an endurance and took away all pleasure from this activity, so I stopped going.
I appreciate that now there are many non smokers who find smoking offensive and make efforts not to smoke in their presence but it would not have taken much wit to have still allowed a segregated room or area as it was in the few years prior to this smoking ban, where we could puff in peace.
As it is now I have been made to feel like a pariah or a second class citizen - I am not allowed to smoke in any public building - there is no longer a sanctuary in hospitals, airports and other such places.
I suppose one solace is that I do not and have not paid the current uk rate of taxes on my appalling habit for quite some time - I buy my baccy in Spain when I go to my place in France - there it is some 4â‚¬50 for 50 grams of Condor as opposed to well over Â£10 here now. That's enough for nearly a week.

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I think the smoking ban was a positive step overall, but that we could have eliminated many of its downsides simply by allowing pubs, bars etc. to apply to have segregated smoking areas. This would have enabled "social smokers" to have a selection of outlets without having to go outdoors, and it would have protected some of the more marginal pubs/bars against being forced to close due to reduced income from the sort of people who would pop in and have a few cigars.

Indeed, the only arguments that I've heard in opposition to the above proposal are:[list]
[*]"I don't smoke so I'm alright Jack",
[*]"the total smoking ban is a positive step overall so therefore there is no need to improve on it",
[*]"smoke might drift into the non-smoking areas",
[*]"laws in some other countries don't allow them, so we shouldn't either, for the law is the law".
[/list]
I'm sure that small amounts of smoke would diffuse into the non-smoking areas, but then again, that happens under the current legislation (smoke coming in through the front door from people smoking outside). Also, non-smokers often have to walk through a lot of smoke in order to get to the pub entrance.

They are picking on drinkers, but they have a habit of punishing the wrong people and saying, "the minority have to spoil it for everybody else". For example, Labour's ID measures have resulted in me being unable to enter most city-centre pubs unless I have my passport on me, despite being aged 28 and a very moderate drinker.

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I'm glad of the smoking ban in so far I don't have to wash my hair & wash all my clothes every time I go to a pub. Although I do think there should be somewhere for smokers to go that is at least comfortable rather than being forced to stand next to the road etc.
Personally I only smoke very small amounts (and not tobacco...) so hasn't really affected me negatively. The exception being when you're with other smokers who in summer (which have all been naff since the ban came in) want us all to sit outside despite how chilly it quickly gets.

Thing that annoys me is the intolerance - stuff like "why should I even smell your smoke because it offends me blah blah" just before they get into their car and belch out stinking toxic fumes. As a cyclist I'd rather remove more cars from the road than smokers from the streets!